


Puppy Love

by Namiziel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bad Puns, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Sirius Black, Closeted Character, Coming Out, Denial of Feelings, Erotica, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Male Character, Gay Remus Lupin, Gen, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Light neck biting kink probably, M/M, Marauders, Marauders' Era, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Trying to give everyone reading this blue balls, Trying to make it a slow-burn but I'm too thirsty so we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-27 23:56:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17171900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namiziel/pseuds/Namiziel
Summary: Summer break can change quite a lot - Remus Lupin had to learn that one the hard way. Going back for their sixth year, education is probably the last thing on the Marauders' minds. There's James Potter trying to get Lily Evans to talk to him, Sirius Black trying to have as much fun as he can, Remus Lupin trying not to act on an incessantly growing crush on his best friend and Peter Pettigrew trying to be a relevant member of their group.





	1. Late Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I apologize in advance for not updating this regularly. Also, this is my first fic ever so yeah... We'll see how it goes. Also also, I don't really have a plan for this so the tags will be added as they become relevant.
> 
> Trigger warning for nightmares I guess? Not too graphic, but mentioning of being attacked and claws.

To say Remus was glad when the summer break ended and school started again would have been an understatement. The lean boy counted the seconds on the way to King's Cross, where he hugged his parents goodbye before sprinting away in hopes of finding his friends.

When he reached platform 9 ¾, he could see a familiar looking face. Surrounded by jet black hair, it beamed in his direction. “Moony!” James, one of his best friends called before hugging him, greeting the taller one as if they hadn't been writing owls every day during the summer.  
The next one to arrive was Sirius. He and Remus hadn't seen each other at all this summer. His parents didn't exactly like Remus – or Peter, for this matter. James was probably the only one of us that Sirius's parents seemed to tolerate. They still thought he was a fool, but at least they tolerated his presence. Remus had always been too shabby for their taste (and Peter too plump).  
“You look tired, Moony,” Sirius commented the dark circles under Remus' eyes.  
“Don't I always?”  
He was often told that he looked like he carried a heavy burden, with his tired eyes behind his shaggy, mouse-brown hair and the scars that spread across his face and – what most people could only guess – the rest of his body. He did indeed carry a burden, but nobody except for his best friends James, Sirius and Peter knew that. Only they knew that the full moon made him transform from a weakly looking young lad into a dangerous werewolf – and Dumbledore, of course, knew about this too. He had made it his task to make sure nobody found out about Remus' secret.

The three of them talked about their summer and wondered what would await them in Hogwarts this year.  
Peter, the smallest of them, arrived a few minutes later, sweating while pulling his heavy cart that seemed to be bigger than him. “Hiya,” he greeted.

Shortly after, the Marauders got inside of the Hogwarts Express and found a compartment for the four of them. The Expresses whistle blew and off they went, ready to start their sixth year.

When they arrived at the castle, their tummies ached from laughing and eating too many sweets. Nonetheless, the topic that seemed to interest James the most was the feast that would soon be starting. And indeed, the feast was great as usual.

At the end of the day, Remus was happy to arrive in the welcoming dorms and to be able to drop on his bed. Peter was the first of them to say “Goodnight” right above Remus. From the bunk next to them, Sirius and James wished a good night too.

Even though Remus was terribly tired, sleep didn't come easily for him. He was lying awake for what felt like hours to him, turning around all the time while hearing Peter snore in the bed to his right. He could hear James breathe deeply at the other end of the room, but Sirius seemed to not make a sound. When he restlessly turned around again, he heard him whisper faintly: “Got trouble sleeping, eh?”  
“Yeah. What about you?”  
A rustling of fabric could be heard and the next moment, Sirius' head peeped through the curtain of Remus bed. Even in the mostly dark room, it was easy to distinguish his sharp features. While Remus' face had softer features and friendly eyes, Sirius had high cheekbones and a prominent jaw line. His fair skin reflected the little light that existed in their dorm, while his long, dark curls showed a strong contrast. His eyes were the middle ground between those two extremes, being of a cold grey.  
“What-” Remus tried to protest, but he was quicker, sitting down on the other end of his bed.  
“Figured it might be more entertaining to be awake together,” he said with a mischievous grin on his face. Remus knew he didn't just mean this night. He was also talking about all the nights that him, James and Peter sneaked out of the castle during the full moon to keep him company in their Animagus forms.  
A smile formed on Remus lips. He nodded. Sirius could not help but smirk back.  
They started talking about the classes they would be having the next day. Sirius was happy that they'd have fewer lessons than the previous years, even though Remus reminded him that this was only because they were all expected to learn for their N.E.W.T.s.  
“I'm sorry, Mister Prefect,” he said in a mocking tone to which Remus could only roll his eyes.  
“So...” Sirius started, hesitantly. “Bad summer?”  
“Yeah.”  
A sympathetic look formed on the dark haired boy's face.  
“How about yours?”  
“Well, it was pretty bad. But James told me I was allowed to move in with him during the next break. His parents gave me permission.” His grey eyes seemed to lighten a bit, though it was a bit hard to tell, the room was quite dark.  
“That's brilliant!” Remus couldn't help but smile all over his face. Sirius returned his smile and looked Remus in the eyes with a more serious expression. “He's more like a brother to me than my own brother ever was.” Showing his affection openly like that didn't look like him at all. Remus slightly furrowed his brow. Sirius seemed to notice this as well, as he cleared his throat audibly – which caused Peter to snore up loudly and turn around. Both of the boys suppressed their laughter.  
“He's the smallest when it comes to size, but the biggest when it's about snoring,” Sirius whispered, grinning.  
Remus yawned. “Oh, are my jokes boring to you?” The older one asked in a mocking tone.  
“No, I just...” Remus sighed. “The full moon is getting closer. It's only -”  
“Only six nights away, I know,” Sirius finished his sentence. By now Remus should be aware of the fact that the other Marauders kept just as much track of the moon cycle as he did, but he tended not to take things for granted, this thing included.  
“Well, I should let you get some sleep at least,” Sirius said, standing up. “'Twas nice talking to you.” And with that, he slipped through the curtains to lie down in his own bed again.  
It had indeed been nice.

_He was being attacked. Shadows flashed before his eyes. He tried to defend himself but when the scenery became clearer, so did the face of his attacker. With wide eyes, he stared into his own face. Red-glowing, unblinking eyes. Claws, attacking him relentlessly. He could not escape._

He woke up covered in sweat. The curtain next to him was pulled open and a worried face looked down on him. It took him a while to realise who it was. Grey eyes, brows furrowed with worry. Face framed with long, brown curls.  
“Pads?” He tried to understand what had happened. “I'm sorry, I must have been dreaming.”  
“Yeah, I heard that,” Sirius said briefly. “Are you okay?” He put a hand on the shaking lad's left shoulder which made him flinch at first. Nonetheless, he did not pull back. After a few seconds, the warm hand started giving Remus some comfort. Just knowing someone was there always calmed him down immensely.  
"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Remus asked in a worried tone. It was one thing that he would be tired in the morning, but there was no need for his best friend to be tired too.  
"Actually no, I haven't been able to sleep," said friend replied, scratching his head sheepishly. He hesitated for a moment. Then he did something none of the boys could quite explain: He climbed into the bed again, this time lying down a few inches next to Remus instead of sitting on the other end of it.  
"You should try to go to sleep again," he said. "I'm here now."  
Yes, there was absolutely no doubt that he was there. Even through the blanket that was between them, and even as tired as he was, Remus was able to feel the warmth of his body next to his. He was a bit embarrassed with him being so close to him in the middle of the night. His body was still tense from the shock of the dream (and the shock of him being there all of a sudden). He couldn't just go back to sleep now, could he? Another yawn disrupted his thoughts. Sirius gently pushed him down on my mattress and laid his hand on Remus' side who was all too glad it was dark because his face felt very hot all of a sudden. Nonetheless, he quickly fell asleep again.

Sirius however could not sleep at all that night. He kept asking himself whether Remus thought this was weird. Because it wasn't weird, was it? He had spent countless nights next to his younger brother when he had had nightmares. It had always helped him calm down and sleep. He didn't dare to move, careful not to wake Remus up. His eyes tiredly wandered over the now fragile looking young man. Was that a new scar on his skin right where his neck met his shoulders? It felt as though something had dropped in his stomach. Sirius could not explain why (and he would never admit it) but he had the strong urge to protect his friend. Of course, he was the stronger wizard of them and transformed into a huge monster once a month, but still, when he was in his human form, he was a thin, weak looking boy that woke every protective instinct inside of Sirius who – thanks to Quidditch – was definitely more muscular. And he definitely didn't deserve what he had to go through.

Once the first sunbeams entered the room, Sirius got up, stretched quickly and then sat down on the mattress of his own bed, where he waited for James to wake up.

He didn't have to wait long before James – as usual way too full of energy, especially considering how early it was – rolled around in his bed and faced Sirius.  
“Morning,” He said with a cocky grin.  
“Morning,” Sirius replied, trying to sound as awake as him. He didn't buy it.  
“Been awake thinking of me again?” His grin only got wider and – in case that was even possible – more cocky.  
“Sure, dreaming of wiping that disgusting smile off your face.”  
James tried to disguise his laugh with a cough. It was not too convincing.  
“You know, you can be bitter all you want, but you won't be able to make me bitter, because -”  
“Oh, shut your mouth!” Sirius interrupted him. “We all know how this sentence ends.”  
He raised his voice. “Hey, Moony, Wormtail! Tell me, what is it that Prongs is going to do this year?”

Remus and Peter were not too pleased to wake up like this. They did, however, reply with voices that were just as sarcastic as they were tired: “He's going to get Lily Evans to date him.”  
Sirius gave James a winning look. “Point proven.”  
James sighed overly dramatically. “You know, not everyone makes the girls swoon just by breathing.”  
Sirius indeed had never had difficulties when it came to girls. Their whole year seemed to have settled on the fact that he was the most attractive of them.  
“It's not your looks that turn her away though, you know?” Remus now barged in. “Maybe it would help if you stopped making such a fool of yourself all the time.”  
Remus was – as usual – the reasonable one of them, even James had to admit that he was right. But when it came to Lily Evans, he just couldn't help himself. He therefore deemed a grunt to be enough of an answer. Maybe he was right, maybe the others just weren't to keen on having yet another discussion about the tragedy that was his love life. However, none of them said another word about the matter as they all started to get dressed.

Remus kicked his blanket away and got to his feet. It was at that moment that he started to remember the way he had fallen asleep the night before. He felt his face redden again and quickly looked down, trying to think of something else. But he just couldn't stop himself. He could never stop his thoughts from racing, if he was being honest to himself. That was how it had always been, ever since he had been young. Sirius had surely just tried to be a good friend. It had worked, he had been able to sleep. So yeah, that must have been it, Sirius must have known that a friend – and he was a friend, of course – helped calming him down. Also, as much as he couldn't ever bring himself to actually say nice things – Sirius had always been a person that didn't mind being physically close. James and him always walked around arm in arm, so this was not too unusual. He was just a dramatic person, that was all. He nodded as if to convince himself when the next thought settled in.  
Sirius wouldn't have done it if he had known. He would surely have thought it was strange, had he known the truth. Disgusting, even. All of them would have thought he was disgusting. Because there was more than one secret that Remus John Lupin kept. One of them being that he was gay.


	2. Mischief

The Great Hall was buzzing with voices. The Marauders sat down and quickly started filling their plates and devouring their toast and eggs – all of them except for Remus whose nervousness hadn't settled yet. He knew he had to eat, being so close to the full moon he needed all of his strength. Even without that, he was just a little too slim for his size. He halfheartedly grabbed a sandwich and took a bite.

As usual, James was the centre of attention as he was talking loudly without ever stopping to chew or swallow his food. Some of the first-years looked at him, disgusted and impressed at the same time. All of the Marauders had become used to it by now, as it was not a new kind of behaviour.  
James seemed to enjoy being the main attraction at the Gryffindor table. To be exact, it wasn't the attention of the whole table that he desired – he could have easily lived without it. It was the attention of one specific Gryffindor that was important to him. Unfortunately, it seemed like it was also the only Gryffindor that didn't care about his show and instead of looking at him focused on the book in front of her: Lily Evans.

James had had a crush on her for as long as he knew her, going back to their first year at Hogwarts. Lily didn't seem to retort this crush. Quite contrary, she seemed to be utterly annoyed and even a bit disgusted by him and the way he acted in front of her.

James – as oblivious as he usually was – seemed to notice that what he was doing wasn't helping his case. He lowered his voice to a normal volume. He now directed his words at only his friends again.  
“I just don't know what else I can do.” He sighed.  
“You could accept that you are just not in her league,” Sirius suggested with a smug look on his face. He could have added that he – being even just slighty more attractive than James – was closer to her league, but he preferred not to start his day bleeding.  
“Maybe go over and talk to her?” Peter tried to help.  
Remus shook his head. “No, she obviously doesn't want to talk to anyone. Especially not to you, Prongs,” he added with a raised brow. “You could for once stop acting like she's a Veela and maybe talk to her about something that she is interested in – something different than how much you like her face. At least I would like a boy doing that. If I was a girl.” The last sentence he had added as quickly as he could. None of his friends seemed to have noticed his slip-up (Which Remus was just incredibly grateful for), being way too busy thinking about what he had said.  
Remus let out some air that he had been holding for the last few seconds. He was just too afraid to tell them and a part of himself hated him for that. They were his best friends, after all. But he already felt like a burden. His friends had accepted him being a werewolf just so easily, not seeming to mind at all. But he knew they worried about him a lot. And how much could a friendship take before it was starting to become a bother? He could only ask so much of them. He could not except them to be fine with him being gay after they had been sleeping in the same room for years, using the same bathroom. Not that Remus had ever had any thoughts about one of them. Until last night of course, when there was just this slight fluttery feeling in his stomach due to the absence of space between him and Sirius.

“I know!” James exclaimed, breaking the short silence once again. “I will simply ask her to go to Hogsmeade with me. You know, drink a Butterbeer. Chat a bit.”

Sirius and Remus opened their mouths at the same time, trying to stop him from getting up right there and then, but James seemed ever so confident as he walked over to Lily.

“This is going to be a disaster,” Sirius said. His voice was worried, but the slight smirk in the right corner of his lip betrayed him in showing his anticipation for the drama that was yet to come.  
Remus tried to avert his gaze from Sirius' mouth and managed to do so just before it started getting obvious. He needed to keep himself under control instead of letting this pointless... crush... mess with him. Remus hated losing control. It was by far enough for him to lose it for one whole week every month, he didn't need it to happen on a daily basis.

“James Potter, for once in my life, leave me alone with your idiotic cretinism!” An annoyed voice cut through the sound of students chatting. The Great Hall went quiet. The three friends could hear footsteps before James sat down with them again. “I'm guessing that was a no.”  
You could see from the look in his face that Sirius tried really hard to stop himself from saying something to make fun of James.

“You know what?” He tried to change the topic, obviously being able to resist his sarcastic side. “We should really start the school year with a bang, don't you think?”  
James looked up and into Sirius' eyes, asking, still with defeat in his voice: “What do you mean?”  
“I mean,” Sirius made a dramatic pause which caused Remus to roll his eyes. “That we should pull a prank on the Slytherins.”

The whole day was spent by James and Sirius trying to come up with increasingly extravagant ideas while Peter assured them that every single one of them was just so much better than the previous one. Remus on the other hand tried to stay out of it except for highlighting the obvious weaknesses of their plans (Which, ironically, helped James and Sirius a lot more than Peter's enthusiasm).

When the boys fell into their beds that evening, the prank was already well prepared. Remus' fingers twitched nervously as he wondered whether this night would be a restless one for him. More importantly, he wondered whether that would mean Sirius would talk to him again.  
After a while, the talking in their dorm died down. Peter and Remus were the first ones to stop talking, Peter to go to sleep and Remus so he could follow his thoughts properly. In the end, even the whispers from Sirius and James stopped. Remus heard them turn around in their beds a few times before they seemed to have fallen asleep.  
Remus tried to fall asleep too, he really did. But he was too afraid he might wake up screaming again. Whenever the full moon neared, his nightmares got worse.  
He had been lying there for approximately 20 minutes when he heard something flutter. He focused on the sound, not being able to tell what caused them. Then, in the dim light that fell in through the windows, he saw something in the air above him. He grabbed his wand from the night stand and whispered: "Lumos!"  
The tip of his wand started glowing and he could see where the fluttering sound had come from: There was a small bird made of paper that Remus grabbed with his free hand. He read what was written on its right wing:

_Up for some more talking?_

He rolled his eyes but couldn't stop a smile from forming on his lips.  
"Sure, Pads, come over" he said quietly into the darkness.  
A few seconds and a lot of rustling fabric later, a grinning Sirius sat in front of him, facing him with an excited look in his eyes.  
"Those Slytherins are not going to be too happy tomorrow morning," he said with a big grin that made Remus grin back just as much. Due to the light that was still shining on the tip of his wand, the two young men could see each other perfectly tonight (contrary to the night before).  
"No, they definitely won't," said Remus, holding back a chuckle but failing halfway through which let a small sound escape his mouth. He lowered his eyes and tried to look everywhere but in Sirius' face.  
 _Great, Remus_ , he thought. _Really manly._  
There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Remus dared to look at Sirius again only to find the older boy still looking at him. This time it was Sirius who averted his gaze, though he was not as obvious as Remus. Instead of Remus' face, he now looked at the scar on the werewolf's shoulder, the one that he had thought to be new the previous night and that was showing now, that the baggy shirt Remus slept in had gotten a little out of place.  
"Is... Is that one new, Moons?" he asked, both curious and hesitant.  
Remus quickly covered the scar with his shirt again which made Sirius' eyes wander to his face again.  
"It's nothing, really."  
Silence.  
"And, I mean..." He took a deep breath. "I think I heard that girls like boys with scars, so maybe this will help my case a bit, so you're no longer the only Marauder who has admirers."  
This should be a sufficient reply, shouldn't it? Remus was worried that Sirius might realize that Remus was nervous talking to him – a good kind of nervous. And then he would find out that the reason why he was nervous was that he fancied him and that would just make everything way too complicated for his liking. Sirius wasn't dumb, after all. There was more to him than just his pretty face and the long curls that you just had to run your hands through – Remus blinked. Sirius hadn't said anything and seemed like he didn't know what to reply.  
"And at least it's not as ugly as this one," Remus added lamely, slightly running his hand over a scar that reached from over his right ear to the right corner of his mouth.  
This time Sirius had an answer.  
"Oh, come on, don't beat yourself up like this. You should be aware that you have a pretty face. And your scars don't change that."  
"I am aware, indeed," Remus said with a sparkle in his eyes, unable to take the compliment. "Get it?"  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious here."  
"Why, of course, who else would you be?"  
Sirius let out a huff of air in annoyance and pouted. You just couldn't talk to Remus about his private problems. He took the "private" part in that way too seriously.  
When he saw the offended look in his friend's face, he sighed.  
"Really, I am okay. Of course, turning is bloody annoying and I'd rather be here than at my parents' when it happens, but there really isn't anything I can do about it so I might as well just accept it."

This time his voice was sincere. Sirius nodded sympathetically upon his friend opening up at least a tiny little bit.  
"But," Remus said into the silence that filled the air between them "I refuse to be the only one whining about his problems tonight. What about you? What was your summer like? It really doesn't look like you to be awake this late. And don't expect me to ignore the way you flinched when the dorm's door opened behind you today or when James tapped you on the shoulder earlier in potions."  
Sirius was baffled. He hadn't realized his behaviour had been different. But Remus, being the sensitive friend he always was, seemed to have noticed more than anyone else.  
Knowing that someone cared about his so deeply gave him a warm feeling in his tummy. But at the same time, he did not want to talk about this. Not at all.  
He sighed, deciding that it would be better to tell Remus at least a bit about his summer. Maybe he'd leave him alone then and they could keep talking about happier things.  
“Well, my parents were not too happy with the results of my O.W.L.s,” the dark haired bloke started hesitantly. “Gave them another reason to detest me. Didn't help much that Regulus was exceeding in most of his classes. So, to avoid most of the yelling and... Other stuff...” He had to look down on the mattress to avoid Remus' worried look. “Well, I sneaked out a lot during summer. Walked as far as I could, sometimes I met up with James. His parents allowed me to stay overnight most of the time. There was also this village close-by, this Muggle village.” His face lit up at the mention. “I sometimes went into a shop where they sold old stuff. Some electronics, lots of books and also clothes. And those... What are they called again?” He looked upwards, trying to remember the word he had learned this summer. “Vinnies? Those music thingies”  
Remus laughed. “You mean vinyls?”  
“Yes! Those! I spent way too much time in this store, but the owner didn't seem to mind. Probably because I also spent some money there. Of course I couldn't get any vinyls. My parents would have destroyed them right away. But – I got my hands on some great Muggle clothes. Some black and grey jeans, apparently Muggles wear them really tight. And also some flannel shirts. My parents would have been shocked, had they known about those. But I managed to hide them in my trunk without them noticing.” He seemed to be proud of himself.  
“Also, the owner's daughter was kind of cute,” he added with a smirk. “She actually convinced me to get the pants. I thought they were too tight but she said I could pull it off.” His facial expression had become smug.  
“So you basically went there to flirt?” Remus said. He tried to sound casual, as if making a joke. But his tummy ached a bit.  
“No, I went there to listen to music. But the store wasn't too busy and so we made out from time to time. Just... For fun, I guess? Nothing serious, no dates or anything.” Sirius shook his head during the last sentence to further clarify his point. Remus nodded, smiling weakly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, the awkwardness is unbearable. It hurts to write this fic sometimes.


	3. Privacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of pining and confusing dreams.

After talking about Sirius' summer romance, the topics that the two talked about got lighter again – at least from Remus' perspective. For Sirius there probably wasn't much of a difference because the girl wasn't a serious topic for him at all. But Remus could feel his stomach relaxing considerably after they switched the topic to something that wasn't about Sirius being as straight as it got.  
Instead, they started talking about the music Sirius hat been listening to and about the books Remus had read during the summer (And he had read lots of books).  
The things they talked about were completely normal topics that they could have talked about to anyone else but they both felt that the other one was the right person to talk about them to. Even though most of the time they were just cracking silly jokes, Remus couldn't help (And he really tried) but feel like they were talking about very intimate things. Sirius felt like this night was special, too, though he would never admit it to anybody. Showing honest emotions was something he was neither familiar nor comfortable with. That's why he liked being dramatic and joking around so much – it enabled him to tell his truth without getting vulnerable.  
Right there and then, that night, in Remus bed, his walls seemed to shrink down to small lines on the floor that you could easily step over. As the night got colder, he pulled the end of the blanket over his legs that he had pulled to his torso.  
Both of them had become tired by now and would have been able to sleep at this point, but neither of them wanted this moment that they shared to end.  
So their voices got more and more sleepy, deeper and raspier, and the beaming grin on Sirius' face turned into a lazy smile. His eyes closed, his head leaning on one of the posts of Remus' bed, he looked more peaceful than Remus had probably ever seen him before.  
His eyes lazily followed the contours of the handsome face – the cheekbones, the jaw, the lips that were slightly pinker than those of other men and finely curved – down to his neck that was bare now that his head was leaned back, over his Adam's apple and to his collar bones that were visible due to the fact that Sirius' shirt didn't stay in place any better than Remus' did. His eyes wandered up again, to Sirius' closed – wait, his eyes weren't closed anymore. Instead, they were now holding Remus' gaze. Sirius' pupils had gotten wider with him getting increasingly tired and the lanky lad felt like they swallowed him whole.  
“Trying to understand how I can be this much more handsome than you?” The indeed very handsome Sirius asked, still with his raspy voice and lazy smile.  
Remus tried not to look at Sirius like a stunned prey animal (though he felt like one). He cleared his throat. “I'm actually trying to understand how all of your giant ego fits into your body.”  
Sirius seemed to see this as a challenge. “Oh, really?” He flexed his biceps. “I think there's enough space there.”  
Remus used all the strength he had to stop himself from biting his lip nervously and to roll his eyes instead.  
“This is not fair, Pads. I'm already getting dizzy from rolling my eyes so much.”  
“You mean you're going to faint because of my unreasonable good looks?”  
Remus laughed.

It was then that Sirius noticed how Remus' eye teeth seemed a tad longer and sharper than usual, really living up to the name “canine teeth”. His eyes lingered on them as he slowly let his tongue slide over his own canine teeth. He wondered how he never noticed this before. Or maybe they always seemed bigger whenever the full moon neared? Whichever it was, this discovery felt like a sacred secret to Sirius now, like a shared intimacy, even though none of the two had expressed it in actual words.   
Remus' mouth closed again and Sirius had the all-to-familiar lazy smile on his lips when his grey eyes shifted upwards to lock with Remus' green ones.  
Sirius felt very warm, in a cosy kind of way. This had to be the joy about this new depth in their friendship – at least Sirius reasoned that this had to be it. He wanted to get closer to Remus, hug him maybe. But that would be weird now, wouldn't it?

They sat there like this for quite a while, not saying anything, until Remus' eyes fluttered shut. Sirius was thinking of scooting over to his side like he had the night before but decided against it – there was only so much physical contact you could have in a friendship before it stopped being platonic. And of course, neither him nor Remus were gay. Sirius had been with quite a lot of girls before, the latest of his conquests being the cute girl in the record store, and had always enjoyed encounters of this kind. And Remus – well, actually, Sirius couldn't really say anything about Remus' preferences or previous relationships. But Remus had always been rather hesitant in talking about private matters. Surely this wasn't an exception. He had probably dated some girls. Sirius wouldn't even wonder if Remus had a secret Muggle girlfriend back home. Now that he thought about it, he would wonder a lot more if it turned out Remus was not in a relationship. Not only was he one of the more handsome guys (even with his scars that sharply contrasted the soft features of his face), he was also incredibly kind and intelligent, a combination that should lead to Sirius not getting any girls at all because they'd all prefer Remus. It was baffling that Sirius had never seen him snog a girl before. Sure, the same applied to his other two best friends, but James had chased after Lily Evans for as long as he knew her and Peter – well, it probably wasn't exactly his choice that he had never kissed a girl.

Suddenly, it dawned to Sirius. He felt stupid now. Of course Remus had never been with a girl. Could the reasoning behind it be more obvious? Remus obviously had issues because he was a werewolf. This made Sirius feel sad. His buddy deserved to know that there was nothing wrong with him, that he was deserving of love and that, in fact, the real question was who would be deserving of Remus Lupin. Because surely, the girl would have to live up to certain standards, Sirius wouldn't just accept any girl to date his best friend. He decided that this year, his own dating life would be secondary and that his priority would be Remus' relationship status.

Happy with this plan of his, Sirius went over to his own four-poster again to try and get some sleep at last.

The dream that followed was pretty bizarre. Sirius could not make out any figures or details but he would remember the emotions that the dream gave him vividly, even after waking up.

_He felt warm and tingly. Nervous, but in a good way. Someone was standing closely behind him, their bodies touching, almost melting together. A warm hand made its way over his back, up to his shoulder and across his chest. The hand's fingers were slender but strong, seeming to know exactly what it was that they wanted. A second hand caressed his neck, pushing aside some strands of hair until it lay bare - soft, sensitive skin._   
_Suddenly, there were warm lips pressed against his neck. They were slightly wet as they started sucking his skin in. Sirius had to suppress a moan. He wanted to turn around but found himself unable to do so._

It was when he felt the scratching of teeth against his skin that he woke up, feeling his groin pulsate.  
He let out a muffled curse before sneaking outside of their bedroom and into the bathroom to take care of this.

When he stepped back out into their dorm room, all of the unwelcome tension gone, his four friends were still fast asleep. Peter was snoring as usual - something James and Sirius would be teasing him for later that day as they always did - while James was quiet, something that was only possible when he was sleeping.

Sirius sat down on his bed, still bare-chested as he was drying his hair with a towel. His friends used to make fun of him for this by saying he was shallow enough to do this but not clever enough to use a proper drying-charm but Sirius insisted a drying charm made his hair strawy (which obviously didn't help the teasing).  
He checked the time - the others wouldn't have to get up within the next thirty minutes. A noise from the four-poster next to his interrupted his thoughts. It was a muffled sound, followed by rustling fabric and shallow breathing.

"Moony? Are you alright?" Sirius asked in a quiet tone, trying not to wake up one of his other friends. He didn't get a reply, but instead could hear some more muffled noises. "Moony?" He repeated, already getting up. He still didn't get a reply so he opened the curtains of Remus' bed to find him still sleeping, apparently having some kind of nightmare. He put a hand on the sleeping boy's shoulder and tried to shake him awake, gently at first, then increasingly violently, until his green eyes snapped open. He had a look of both confusion and shock on his face as he registered his friend standing next to him.  
"What..." He noticed Sirius' half-naked state, only wearing a pair of boxers and the rest of his answer died in his throat.  
"Are you alright? You were having a nightmare and I was worried."  
The shock on Remus' face didn't cease the slightest bit. His confusion, however, did and made space for embarrassment as he rather quickly assured Sirius that he was okay. Sirius proceeded to towel his hair while Remus took some slow breaths and gathered some clothes and a towel. Holding them in his arms in front of him, he hurried into the bathroom and locked the door.  
He let out a tortured groan. For once his reoccurring nightmares had had something good to them. He couldn't imagine the embarrassment if Sirius had realized that this hadn't been a nightmare in the slightest, all the more that Sirius had been a rather significant part of Remus' dream.

Remus undressed and got into the shower. He put his hand on the water tap and already squinted his eyes before he had even opened it. He suppressed a yelp as the ice-cold water came crashing down on his head and body, leaving him shivering. He cursed under his breath. Had it been any kind of sex-dream, he wouldn't be in this situation now. But he could not possibly pleasure himself under the shower with the image of his best friend on his mind. So he had to get rid of his erection the hard way (he internally rolled his eyes at himself for phrasing his thoughts like that) – by taking a cold shower and waiting for a few moments.

A few concerningly long moments. With Sirius being as omnipresent as he was, it took way too long for Remus' taste to get him out of this system. He felt dizzy – whether it was because of the cold water or because he remembered the shock he had felt when it was but Sirius himself waking him up from his dream, Remus couldn't tell. Probably both. Remus started listing the ingredients one needed to brew the Felix Felicis potion (in alphabetical order) and resumed by reciting the instructions which their potions textbook supplied (in chronological order, obviously). He had gotten to “Add a sprinkle of powdered common rue” until he felt in the right shape to get out of the shower. He wrapped himself in his towel and stepped in front of the mirror, the freezing slowly wearing off. Well – at least he was awake now.  
And apparently he wasn't the only one either. Remus could hear voices from over in the dorm and then James' voice, yelling while banging his fist against the wooden door: “Oi, you wanker! Open the door, some people gotta use the loo!”  
Remus sighed, quickly drying the remaining drops of water off of his body and putting on a pair of pants before opening the door for James who darted inside and slammed the door shut right behind Remus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always those oversized shirts, slipping out of place like that... There is no point denying my collar bone/neck biting kink anymore, is there?
> 
> Spoiler alert: Sirius solved his problem in a very different way than Remus did :P


End file.
